Trust me
by CantanteChica
Summary: A new girl joins squad 7, who's a little different. Her growing friendship with the squad and relationship with Sasuke turns their world upside down as she only wants to protect them and Sasuke has to try and resist all he wants... Rated M for some language and later content...
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

*Ring*

As another day in the academy ends, the students fill the halls and begin their way home. The usual group of girls follow Sasuke in a dream like state, with Naruto following Sakura in his own. He ran to catch up with her and tapped her shoulder, bringing her back down to earth, momentarily.

"Hey, Sakura, you look realy tired, today." He said, "Everything ok?"

He could tell how strung out she was. She hadn't made a single snark to him all day and had barely even been able to concentrate on Sasuke until class was almost over. He could swear she had fallen asleep briefly, but she denied it.

"Yeah," she replied, "I just didn't sleep very well. I heard things coming out of my parents bedroom that no child should ever have to hear..." she shuddered and clung her books closer to her chest.

"Ah, well, at least we don't have to deal with stuff like that. Right, Sasuke?" Naruto had run up to Sasuke and went for a high five, but was met with a glare.

"You're an idiot." Sasuke stated, before suddenly stopping in his path and turned around to the plethora of girls. "You know, I'd really like to go home by myself, for once!" He exclaimed as the girls scattered, leaving only him the blonde spazz and pink-haired fan girl in the hall. He looked at them and continued on his way down the hall, and out the door.

"Hey, Sasuke, do you maybe wanna come over to my place, tonight, and watch a movie, or something?" Sakura asked as they made their way down the stairs.

"And listen to your parents going at it? No thanks." Sasuke dully replied.

"Oh, okay. I could bring one over to your place, if that'd be better..."

"Also, no thanks."

"Okay..."

"Hey, Sakura, we could watch one at my place. You can even stay the night, if you'd like. I'll take the couch." Naruto offered.

"You know, after the night I had, that does sound nice. Sasuke you wanna come?" She asked eagerly.

"You two can do whatever the hell you want. I'm going home." Sasuke voiced right as a person walked up past them towards the school. The three turned in confusion and watched the person in all black head towards the door.

"Hey, school's over..." Sakura called after them, but with no reply.

"Hey!" an annoyed Sasuke called.

"I heard you!" a female voice replied as they turned into the building. The three looked at each other confused and wondering who it was. They didn't recognize the person at all. Naruto ran back up the stairs, peaked his head around the corner and watched as Iruka lead them into the classroom.

"She went into Iruka's room." Naruto called back to them and the three immediately ran over to the window. As they creeped their eyes up over the sill, they saw the person sit down at a desk and remove the black hood from their head.

She had deep auburn, loosely curled hair, halfway down her back, with her black leaf headband tied above her head. Her eyes were a dark golden brown and she had the fairest of skin; like porcelain. She wore a black hooded jacket over a maroon tank top, with black shorts and shoes. And with one breath the three outside the window let out a "wow..."

"Who is that?" Sakura asked.

"I don't know, but I'd like to spend the night at her place..." Naruto replied. Sakura glared at him and hit him in the arm. "Oww! What was that for?"

"A minute ago, you were drooling over me. What the hell?" As the two argued, Sasuke just stared in silence. But she had heard them and slowly, he saw the girl turn towards window.

"Get down!" He exclaimed as he sunk down and grabbed their clothes to pull them down. They huddled under the window and Sasuke put a finger to his lips.

"Do you think they saw us?" Naruto whispered. Sasuke shrugged, right as the door to the school opened, and Iruka stepped out, glaring at them.

"Get out of here!" He yelled and the three made a break for it, heading their separate ways. Iruka went back inside, shutting the door and returned to the classroom. "So where were we?" he asked her girl sitting infront of him. She crossed her feet and gripped her hands tighter together, nervously.

"What's going to happen, now?" she asked. "With the teams?"

"Ah, yes. Well, that's where it gets a bit complicated." he let out a sigh and looked at her with sorrow in his eyes. He knew this was going to upset her. "The exams are next week and normally, you would just be added to a team. But the numbers didn't quite work out that way, this year."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, they can only be broken up into groups of 3. And the class just had a perfectly divisable number, this time around."

"So what does that mean for me?"

He shifted his position, leaned against he desk, looking at her and gently crossed his arms. "Your addition to a team will have to be proposed at the next meeting and someone will have to volunteer to take you."

"But what if nobody volunteers?"

"Then we'll have to wait until the next round of students."

"But that could take years!" She exclaimed as she slammed her hands down on the desk.

"I know, Chihiro. But I don't make rules." Iruka replied to her. He ran his hand through his hair, frustrated. She wanted this so badly.

"I still don't understand why I can't train with the others. Or why I have to come after hours and take the exact same class, just because something _might happen..."_

"Damnit, Chihiro! It's the _might_ that we can't risk!" he yelled. She flinched back at his sudden anger and her eyes becan to fill with tears. Iruka's face immediately softened at what he had done and he went over to put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. I know you don't understand." He apologized. She sunk down in her seat and his brow furrowed. He was angry at himself. She was only 12 and what was coming hadn't, yet. "Why don't we skip our lesson for today. Go home. Play with friends." he walked back over to his desk and she picked up her back pack and swung it over her shoulder, walking to the door.

"What friends?" she muttered to herself. Placing her hand on the doorframe, she turned to him. "You know, I'm not a monster." she quietly said, "Not yet..." she then exited the room with her head down and Iruka was left to an empty classroom. He sat at his desk and rubbed his forehead in frustration. He then reach down into a desk drawer and pulled out a clear blue bottle. Setting it on the desk, and with deep sigh, removing the cap.


	2. Author's Note

**Hello. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone reading this. It's been a very long time since I've tried writing. I wanted to ask you to please keep in mind that this is a story I wrote 8 years ago, when I was 13, but never finished. I got a few chapters in and then just gave up on it, but I made a new years resolution, this year, to finally finish it. However, after rereading it, I realized how terrible the spelling, grammar, and certain parts were. So, I deleted it, cleaned it up, and am reposting it. And while I realize that the character may be borderline Mary Sue...I don't know what to tell you; I was 13. I still hope you enjoy it, as I'm putting a great deal of effort into finishing this :)**


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Months later, after teams had been divided, and many had gone on several missions, squad seven sat in their clearing; enjoying their lunch. Sakura and Sasuke were leaning against separate trees with Naruto lying on his stomach, in between, enjoying cold instant ramen since they didn't have access to hot water during the day. Naruto looked at Sakura, then Sasuke, then Kakashi, who was up in one of the trees, and then back again at all of them; none of them saying a word…

"Okay, I can't take this quiet, anymore! What's going on?!" He burst. They all broke their hold and looked at him after his outburst.

"Nothing." Sakura replied. "We were just being quiet, today. You could've said you wanted to talk."

"Great, cause I wanna talk." He sat up and grinned, bringing a groan from Sasuke. "So who do you think that girl was?" He asked with a mouth full of noodles. Sasuke and Sakura looked at each other confused for a moment, not remembering who he was talking about. "That girl we saw going into the school after us…" he continued.

"Oh…are we still talking about that? That was, like, 3 months ago." Sasuke commented.

"Yeah, Naruto. She was probably just from a lower grade and missed a few days." Sakura added.

"But she was pretty…" Naruto pouted.

"And I'm not?" Sakura asked. Naruto froze and had no idea what to say. He looked at Sasuke for help.

"Don't look at me. I didn't start this. You're the one who wanted to talk." Sasuke told him.

"Relax," Sakura told him as she playfully hit his arm and continued eating. "I'm just messing with you. Hey, Sensei! Are you sure you're not hungry? My mom gave me some extra dumplings for you." She called up to the tree where Kakashi was quietly reading to himself. He gently jumped down to them, never breaking eye contact with the pages of his book.

"No thank you. But tell your mom I appreciate it." He told Sakura "I'm actually expecting someone…" He continued as he lowered his book and looked towards the bridge back to town from the training grounds. "Ah, there they are!" Kakashi stowed his book in his pocket and jogged off towards the bridge. The other three leaned over, straining to find out who he was running to, only to see Iruka, at first. Kakashi stopped in front of him, with his hands on his hips and they could hear the two senseis faint laughter.

"Why's Iruka here?" Sakura asked

"I don't know…"Sasuke faintly replied as they soon saw a small figure emerge from behind Iruka.

"Oh, shit." Naruto yelped. The three snapped back into their original positions, wide eyed. "It's her…"

"You've got to be kidding me." Sakura exclaimed

"Oh, man. What if this is like Beetle juice? Say her name three times and she appears…" Naruto commented

"But we don't know her name…" Sasuke stated.

"Then why is she here _right after_ I mention her? Explain that!" Sasuke furrowed his brow and looked to Sakura who shrugged her shoulders with a '_he's got a point'_ look. She set her food down and leaned back over to see.

"What are they doing?" Naruto asked

"Just talking…" Sakura replied

"Really? That's it?" He got back up and crawled over to look. "Why are you here…..?" He whispered to himself

"You two are pathetic." Sasuke said, taking another bite of his food.

"She's coming over here!" Naruto alerted

"What?!" Sasuke exclaimed with a mouth full of food as he jumped up and crawled over to see.

They saw Kakashi and Iruka still talking on the bridge as the girl walked slowly towards them, stopping halfway. She looked at them, gripped her hands together, and looked back to Iruka. Him and Kakashi turned to her and Iruka gave her a thumbs-up, to which she gave a timid okay, back and looked back to the three. She took 2 more steps and stopped again, looking back to the two senseis. Kakashi looked at her, the 3 students, back to her, and raised his hand; signaling for her to wait for him. She nodded and lowered her hands to her side, doing as she was told.

"I guess I'll have to go introduce her." Kakashi said turning back to Iruka, on the bridge.

"Yeah. Thanks for volunteering. I was worried she'd have to wait until the next round of students." Iruka said

"Honestly…I lost a bet with Kurenai. But we'll see how this goes."

"Seriously? Look, please don't treat this like a lost bet. I really think this'll be good for her."  
"I promise I'll be good." Kakashi joked "But how does this work? I've never witnessed a 4-member team, before, let alone taught one."

"It starts with this." Iruka replied, handing a stack of papers. "They're your logs. Fill them out every day, and give them back to me at the end of the month. I file them with the hokage and give you a new set. It's not too hard."

"Great…" Kakashi groaned at the papers. Meanwhile, Chihiro stood in the middle of the field, feeling the heat of the sun on her face and while this was such a nerve racking moment, feeling grateful for an opportunity she wasn't sure would come.

"Oh, I think she's gonna do it on her own…" Iruka whispered, pointing to her and Kakashi turned to see her slowly head over to the group. She gave a quick nod to the three, before heading over to sit under a separate tree, putting in a set of earbuds, and fiddling with her shoelace. The other three simply stared at her for a second before snapping their heads back to the two senseis.

"Never mind…" Iruka sighed.

"The hell is she doing?" Kakashi turned back to him.

"I don't know. It's this damn program. They've always kept her away from the other kids, so I don't think she really knows how to socialize." They both looked back to the 3 curious faces. Kakashi motioned to them to go to say hi and watched Naruto slowly crawl over to her, while still looking at Kakashi. The blonde stopped and sat at the tree next to her, never looking away from his sensei.

"Damn, this is awkward…" Kakashi commented, going to lean on the rail, tucking the papers under his arm, with his hands in his pockets. Iruka joined him and sighed as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"You know what's funny?" Iruka asked, Kakashi still looking at his team.

"What?"

"I've been telling Naruto about this thing for years…" Kakashi's face quickly snapped back to Iruka

"Why would you do that? You know that's classified." Kakashi strained

"Would you relax? He's a kid. He thinks it's a story." Iruka reassured him, looking caringly towards Naruto and Chihiro, then back to Kakashi "I practically raised both of them."

"Well, you better hope he keeps thinking that," Kakashi told Iruka, "because I'm not saving your ass."

"I know."

"Oh, her birthday's still a ways away, but what do I do about that?"

"I'm not sure what's gonna happen. Just make sure she's at the hospital by 11:30pm."  
"Got it. Well, I should go." Kakashi stood back up from his lean and started back over to the group.

"Wait…" Iruka called. Kakashi turned back briefly. "Was there ever a time when they didn't know who it was?"

"Yeah. Right before her, actually." Kakashi replied. "They searched every baby for 30 years and never found it. I'll call you later and tell you everything, sweet cheeks."

"Funny…" Iruka chuckled. "See you…"

Kakashi ran back over to his team and put the papers in his sack. "Play nice." He said, pointing at Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura. "Alright! Everybody, this is Ch..." He looked over and saw her still playing with her shoe lace, before reaching over and taking her ear buds out.

"Hey..." she pouted as he stashed them in his pocket.

"As I was saying..." He continued. "This is Chihiro Koyomada. She's...well, she's one of us, now"

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked

"I don't know how I can be any clearer, Naruto. She's part of the team." Kakashi replied as Chihiro gave a shy wave to the others. "Chihiro, this is Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha." Each raised their hand to their introduction. "There was an issue with overcrowding, so it took a while to get her into a group. But everything's sorted out, now, and she's with us. We're gonna have a pleasant first day and I will repeat, again: play nice."

"So how come we've never seen you around, before?" Naruto asked as Kakashi took his seat.

"Well, like Mr. Hatake said…" Chihiro started

"Please, call me Kakashi Sensei." He insisted.

"Oh, okay. Like Kakashi Sensei said, there was an issue with overcrowding, so Iruka Sensei would homeschool me. Sometimes he would even have me come to school, after classes got out. I mean, I know it was you three who saw me at the school, awhile back." She answered, to which the team looked down, slightly embarrassed. "It's kinda hard to miss when you hair looks like the sun logo of the lodge, by the front gates."

They realized she was talking about Naruto, and Sakura burst out laughing. She got up and went over to sit on the other side of Chihiro. "You and I are gonna get along, just fine. Ooh, I like your necklace." Sakura said, pointing to a small pale peach colored gem on a yellow gold base with a thing yellow gold chain, around Chihiro's neck. "Where'd you get it?"

"Oh, this? It was my mom's." Chihiro replied.

"Was?" Naruto asked

"Yeah, it's just me. They died when I was a baby."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I kinda feel like an ass, now." Sakura said.

"No, it's okay. Really. I don't remember them, at all."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. It's fine."

As the day continued on, the initial awkwardness faded and was slowly replaced with comfort. Chihiro continued to tease Naruto, but a playful way that even he thought funny. Sakura was more than ecstatic to have another girl in the group and even Sasuke had moved closer to be a part of the conversations taking place.

"Maybe this won't be so bad." Kakashi thought to himself, watching his students appear more and more like lifelong friends. But he couldn't help but notice how much Sasuke and Chihiro were looking at each other and how quickly they would look away when they caught the other looking. He gave a slight smile and thought "Oh, this is gonna be fun."

At the end of the day, Kakashi dismissed them to go home and as they left the clearing, he really felt like this would work. Sakura even ran back and stopped Chihiro. "Hey, do you wanna come over and spend the night at my place, tonight?" She asked

"Really?" Chihiro asked

"Yeah. I have extra pajamas you can borrow, too."

"Sure." Chihiro answered with a big smile.

"Great! Let's go!" Sakura grabbed her arm and they ran off into town.

Kakashi watched them and at that moment his phone rang. He took it out of his pocket, saw Iruka on caller id, and answered. "What?"

"How'd it go?" Iruka asked, sounding a little frantic

Kakashi gave a dramatic sigh. "Would you stop worrying? It was good."

"Really?"

"Yes. It was a little rough, at first. But, I mean, Sakura just invited her to spend the night, tonight."

"Oh, thank god. That's great." Kakashi could hear his relief. "So what do you think?"

"I really think it's gonna be okay. Oh, but you're never gonna believe what I saw…" Kakashi replied with clear excitement in his voice.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Weeks went by and group was functioning as normal as ever. It was as if they'd been together all this time and had never been 3. One afternoon, they were all gathering in their clearing for lunch. Sakura and Naruto were sitting against a tree across from Sasuke, enjoying their meal, while Sasuke was keeping to himself. Chihiro ran up to them, running late. Sakura waved, but Chihiro walked past her and over to Sasuke.

"Hey, Sasuke, do you want…" She started, reaching in her bag.

Sasuke who had been keeping to himself as best he could, sighed and stopped her midsentence. "No, I don't wanna hang out! Or go on a date! Or whatever the hell you ask…" His snap was normal, towards Sakura and other girls, but after their few weeks together, him saying that to Chihiro shocked even Sakura and Naruto. Chihiro took a step back, her brow furrowed, looking at him intently.

"I was just gonna ask if you wanted my soup." She stated, rather taken back. Hearing this made Sasuke realize what an ass he'd just been. He didn't think. He looked up to see her holding a container of soup with confusion and even hurt in her eyes. "There's this little café outside of my apartment building. I get my lunch there, every day. But the messed up my order and accidently gave me mushroom soup, today. I hate mushrooms."

"I love mushrooms…" Sasuke muttered

"Ok, then…Do you want it?" She asked

"Umm… sure. Thanks." He replied, taking the container carefully and rather shyly. She nodded and turned to towards another tree when he stopped her.

"Wait." Fumbling around in his bag, he took out his own container. "I'll trade you… it's onion…"

"I love onion…" she muttered

"Ok, then… _Do you want it_?" He asked, shrugging rather apologetically. Slowly, she reached and carefully took the container from his hands.

"Thanks…" she removed her bag from her shoulder and sat at the tree next to Sasuke's, as they both looked away and ate in silence.

Sasuke glanced up trying to think of something to say; anything. "Hey, I'm sorry." He said quietly.

"Yeah…" was her only reply.

Across from them, Sakura and Naruto had stopped eating, in complete confusion. Sakura slowly leaned over to Naruto and whispered, "This is weird, right?"

"So weird…" he replied.

From that point on, Chihiro continued to purposefully get mushroom soup and she traded it with Sasuke on a daily basis. It had just become something they did, but to Sakura and Naruto, each day was weirder than the last. They still ate in silence, for the most part, but no longer faced away from each other. And this was just the beginning…

* * *

The air outside was brisk and as the leaves began changing colors, Sakura turned the corner at the top of the stairs to the 3rd floor of the apartment complex and continued down, examining the numbers of each door. 312… 313… 314! She knocked on the door, eager for it to open. A day off from training was nice and she just wanted to have some fun with her friend. Suddenly, the door to 315 opened, and outstepped Sasuke. He stopped when he saw Sakura; his hand still on the doorknob.

"Sakura?" He asked

"What are you doing?" she asked in return

"I live here… What are _you_ doing here?"

"I came to get Chihiro… She's having lunch with me and my parents…"

"What…" he began as the door to 314 opened, and outstepped Chihiro, smiling at Sakura, and closing the door behind her

"You ready to go?" She asked Sakura who then pointed at Sasuke. Chihiro turned and her smile vanished as she saw him.

"…the hell…?" he finished.

* * *

"Wait, so you're saying you two have been living next door to each other for_ 3 years _and _you didn't know_!?" Naruto exclaimed.

"That's exactly what I'm saying…" Sasuke responded, now standing in Naruto's doorway

"How did you not know?"

"I don't know! I only know the names of, like, 2 people in that building."

Crossing his arms and giving a slight smirk, Naruto leaned against the door frame. "So what are you gonna do?"

"What do you mean, _what am I gonna do_? She's my neighbor…and my teammate…and…"

"And…?"

"…and that's it."

"You sure?" Naruto asked, now fighting back a smile.

"Yes, I'm sure. What are you smiling at?"

"Nothing." Naruto suppressed his smile and stood back up, off the doorframe, as Sasuke sighed and shook his head.

"Hey, do you wanna go do something?"

"_You_ wanna hang out with _me_?" Naruto asked, shocked. Sasuke never wanted to spend time with him, willingly.

"Yeah, you're my friend. Why not?" _Friend?_ Something was definitely up.

"Oh, well… umm…" Naruto began fidgeting with his clothes, not sure how to respond to this. "Can I get a rain check? I have plans with Hinata, today."

"Since when do you hang out with Hinata?"

"Since she asked me and I'm not a dick…"

* * *

That night, Sasuke was pacing in his kitchen. He couldn't stop thinking… thinking… _"Are you sure?"_ Naruto's question kept repeating in his head.

"What do you mean? Of course I'm sure." He thought. Continuing to pace, he glanced at the clock. It was almost 9. Chihiro had been with Sakura's family all day. "Where the hell…" he started to think, just as he heard the door to 314 open and close. He walked back through his bedroom, to the balcony, and peaked over to Chihiro's side. The lights turned on and she walked over to pull the curtains shut.

Sasuke went back to his kitchen, stopped, and leaned against the counter. His mind was racing; not knowing where to stop. Taking a deep breath, he got up, grabbed two mugs, and began making tea. Shortly after, he headed back out to the balcony with 2 hot mugs, saw that her curtains were open again, and strode over to her window.

Inside, Chihiro was sitting on her bed, in a white t-shirt and red sweatpants, while putting her hair up in a ponytail. Her hair parted to the right and had long side swept bangs that softly framed her face. The bed was made of dark brown wood, with dark gray sheets. On the far wall was the door, on the left, and a closet, on the right. In front of the bed, there was a desk with a silver laptop, and a nightstand on either side of the bed.

She picked up the alarm clock from one of the nightstands and set it for the morning, before carefully taking off her necklace and laying it next to the clock. Looking around the room, she then went over and took 2 wet wipes out of a container. She laid them on the floor, stood on them, and began shuffling around to clean the floor. What a dork…

Sasuke tapped on the sliding glass door, causing Chihiro to jump. "That's different…" Sasuke said through the glass. Confused, Chihiro opened the door.

"Sasuke…?"

"Hey, I…umm…would you like…I… I made…." He stumbled, getting frustrated. "What the hell is wrong with me?" he thought. Taking a deep breath, he finally got out, "I made extra tea. Would you like some?" he gestured toward the 2nd mug.

"Umm…sure. Thank you." She gently took the cup and as Sasuke quickly turned to leave, she asked, "Would you like to drink it…umm…with me?" Sasuke froze and looked back. He hadn't thought this far. "We can sit outside…" she continued.

"Ok." Sasuke replied and they both cautiously took a seat on the balcony.

* * *

A few weeks later, Naruto was off throwing shuriken at a tree, smiling. He'd had dinner with Hinata the previous night, for his birthday, a couple weeks late.

"Naruto!" Sakura called, bolting up to him.

"Hey." He greeted.

"I need to talk to you. It's about Sasuke and Chihiro." She seemed rather giddy.

"What about them?" he asked as he suddenly stopped throwing the shuriken. "Wait, what is up with those two? Seriously. They're so weird around each other. Have you noticed how comfortable he is around her? We've only known her a few months and he's already more comfortable with her that he was with us, after going to school with us, for years! And then the damn soup thing…I mean, they were already weird, before that. But, it's like the soup thing just escalated the weirdness. And…"

"Naruto!" She exclaimed, snapping him out of it. "Look, I hate to stop you mid rant, but that's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"What about it?"

"Ok, well, I've been doing extra training sessions at night, for a few weeks, now, to try and catch up with you guys…"

"Really? That's great. How's it going?"

"Good. But, that's not the point. Every night, going to and from these sessions, I have to walk by their building. And, every night, I see them out on the balcony, talking."

"That's it?"

"That's it! They just talk, for _hours_!"

Naruto glared at her, putting away his shuriken. "If you're messing with me…"

"I'm not messing with you! Come with me, tonight, and I'll show you."

"Then how do you know they're out there for _hours_?"

"Because they're there when I go to train and still there when I come back…"

"Fine." He answered and followed her back to town while, outside their knowledge, Kakashi had been up in the tree with his book, listening the whole time. He watched the two as they left, turning the page in his book, and smirked.

"Hormones are a bitch, aren't they?"

* * *

"See! I told you!" Sakura whispered to Naruto as they peeked around the corner of the business next to Sasuke and Chihiro's apartment building. Looking up, they saw the two drinking from mugs, sitting in chairs, and – like Sakura had said – just talking, with blankets wrapped around themselves. Chihiro appeared to be laughing at something as Sasuke took a drink, but they couldn't hear.

"You don't think…" Naruto began

"Oh, I know." Sakura stated.

"What do we do?" He asked as they backed away around the corner and started walking down the street.

"Whatever we can… You take him. I'll take her."

"Start tomorrow?"

"Done." They shook hands and exchanged a rather devious smile.

"I'll see you, tomorrow."

"See you…"

* * *

Cuts, bruises, and sweat; a lot of sweat. Kakashi had been working them hard, all day at the indoor training center. He'd finally dismissed them, although they were all too tired to leave. Naruto and Sasuke slumped to floor, exhausted, against the cold, concrete wall of the hallway. It was a relief to their sore muscles.

Sakura and Chihiro came up from down the hall, both holding a small plastic cup of water in each hand. Sakura handed one to Naruto, and Chihiro, one to Sasuke. Naruto quickly downed his water and wiped the sides of his mouth with the back of his hand, giving a sigh of relief. Chihiro had finished hers and stacked her cup with Naruto's. She gathered up her hair with one hand, and began fanning the back of her neck, with the other. Sasuke glanced up, briefly, to see small beads of sweat trailing down her neck, and beneath her shirt. He took a gulp of water and focused his eyes downward, avoiding eye contact with any of the three. Sakura saw an opportunity.

"Hey, Chihiro, I'm gonna go to the bathroom and cleanup, a bit. You wanna come?" Sakura asked, before finishing her water, and giving Naruto a suggestive glare to Sasuke.

"Yeah, I feel kinda gross." She replied, letting her hair fall back down over one shoulder and began heading down the hall to the bathroom. Naruto looked at Sakura, confused, for a second, before realizing what was happening and gave a subtle thumbs-up to his friend.

"You coming?" Chihiro called after Sakura, from down the hall.

"Yeah." Sakura quickly replied, heading after Chihiro.

Naruto waited until the girls had turned the corner, at the end of the hall, before turning his gaze to Sasuke, who was putting a tiny bit of water in his hand, before rubbing it on the back of his neck. Oh gosh, where to start?

"Hey…" Naruto started.

"What?" Sasuke groaned as he set down his empty cup and looked over.

"So…how've you been…?" Damn, this was awkward.

Furrowing his brow, Sasuke replied, "You see me every day…"

"Right…"

Sasuke's gaze intensified, as he shifted himself into a more upright position. "The hell is wrong with you?"

Shit. "Nothing. Just trying to make conversation; and failing." He needed to speed this up before the girls came back. "Come on, Naruto. Man up." He thought to himself.

"Ok…"

"So…anyway…What do you think about…Chihiro?" It was a good start.

Sasuke quickly turned his gaze away and began readjusting the straps on his arms. "What about her?"

"You know…just…what do you think?"

"She's cool, I guess." Sasuke continued, now adjusting his leg straps. "Nice."

"Is that it?"

"Maybe…why?" Now retying his headband, Naruto could see that Sasuke had seemed to tense and was forcing control over his breath. This was it…

"You know, you seem awfully fidgety. Does thinking about her make you nervous, or something?"

Sasuke froze for a second, before stretching one arm back, over his head. "Why the hell would I be nervous?"

"Because I think you like her." Naruto finally got it out. Maybe, too quick?

Sasuke froze. "You're an idiot. I don't have time for that." He replied quickly, before taking off a shoe, to shake out a rock.

"If I'm an idiot, then, why haven't you looked at me, since I brought her up?"

"I don't have to explain myself, to you!" Sasuke exclaimed, aggravated, and glaring at Naruto, before shoving his shoe back on. He gathered up the empty cups, got up, and charged down around the other end of the hall.

Left smirking, Naruto simply whispered to himself, "You didn't say no…"

Down in the girl's bathroom, Chihiro was splashing water on her face, while Sakura was drying herself off with paper towels. She handed one to Chihiro, who took it, and dried off her face.

Glancing at Chihiro, Sakura knew it had to be now. "So, I know you've only been with us for a few months…" She started, "but I feel like we're pretty close and we can actually talk about stuff."

"Yeah, I guess we are." Chihiro agreed, throwing away her paper towel, and turning to face her friend. "Did you wanna talk about something?" She asked, leaning against the sink.

"Just wanted to get your opinion on something…or someone…"

"Ok…shoot."

"So…Sasuke…"

"What about him?" Chihiro asked; as Sakura saw her physically tense.

Fighting a small smile, at this, Sakura continued. "What do you think about him?"

"He's ok…" Chihiro replied, crossing her arms.

"Just, ok?"

"He's kind of a jerk, but he has his moments."

"Moments like when you sit out and talk all night?" Sakura knew she may have jumped to this too quick, but when she saw Chihiro's eyes widen, she knew she was getting somewhere.

"How…" Chihiro started, but was interrupted.

"Do you like him?"

"First of all, you're insane. Second of all, that's really none of your business."

"Oh, come on."

"I'm going home…" Chihiro quickly turned towards the door, but Sakura immediately blocked her path.

"I'm serious. You and I are the only girls that he hangs out with. And you're the only one he hangs out with, willingly. And I, sure as hell, think he likes you."

"Let me out…" Chihiro begged, before glaring at Sakura. "The hell are you smirking at?"

"You're not answering my question."

Chihiro pushed passed Sakura and out the door, with Sakura quickly on her tail. They continued to argue down the hall, with Chihiro continuously telling Sakura to "shut up". Sakura could see Naruto come into view, with no Sasuke, and before they got too close, stepped in front of Chihiro to say one last thing.

"Ok, I'll stop. But think about this: would you be telling me to shut up if I was wrong?"

Chihiro just stood there, as Sakura took a seat next to Naruto. She didn't know how to respond to that. Would she? She forced herself to move; slowly taking a seat next to Sakura. Naruto looked over at the internally confused Chihiro, and then to Sakura, who gave a slight nod, before tapping her fist to his. Done. Sasuke came back up the hall and gave a sharp glare to Naruto, before walking around to the other side of Chihiro. Not only did he sit down, but he slid down onto his back, shifted to use Chihiro's leg as a pillow, and placed his arm over his face. Chihiro froze while Naruto and Sakura had to fight back smiles.

Sensing the attention on him, Sasuke groaned, "I'm tired. Let it go."

A shocked Chihiro turned abruptly to Sakura and whispered, only, "This proves nothing."

* * *

The next couple of months were anything but normal. Sasuke had grown distant from everyone, especially his team. He had slowly stopped going over to Chihiro's for their talks, and even closed his curtains to ignore her when she tried coming over to his side. Thinking it was best, he rarely ever saw anyone. Decisions…

Then came that night… Naruto had managed to drag Sasuke out of his apartment for 1 night; New Year 's Eve. Standing in the hall outside his apartment, with Naruto and Sakura, he could feel their concern emanating from them and wanted nothing more than go back inside; alone. He fastened his coat, as the cold air struck them; snow falling on the streets.

"Ready to go?" Naruto asked, sounding cheerful, even if part of it was forced. He smiled at Sasuke, who only glared back.

"We've still got one more…" Sakura cheered, before knocking on Chihiro's apartment door.

"Great…" Sasuke thought. "This again…"

The door quickly opened, and Chihiro emerged in a dark blue winter coat.

"Hey." She cheered, to Sakura. Smiling, her and Sakura embraced, only to have Sakura suddenly break the hug and extend Chihiro out, at arm's length, looking concerned.

"You're burning up." Sakura said, feeling Chihiro's cheek with the back of her hand.

"What?" Chihiro replied, as Sakura continued feeling her forehead.

"Yeah, you've got a really bad fever."

"Maybe we shouldn't go." Naruto inserted.

Taking Sakura's hands off her face, Chihiro reassured, "No. I'm fine. Let's go."

"Are you sure?" Sakura asked.

"Yes. Let's go." Chihiro quickly broke out of Sakura's grasp and proceeded toward the stairs. As the others followed, Naruto glanced over to see Sasuke looking intently after Chihiro. Naruto thought he almost looked concerned.

They made their way through town, through the crowds of people that were out for the night's celebration. Stores were lined with white Christmas lights and multicolored paper lanterns. People were laughing, drinking, and eating; caught up in the festivities. Children were running through, pelting groups of random people with snowballs. Seeing the kids coming their way, Naruto suggested the duck inside a business for warmth, to which they agreed and entered with the chime of the bell above the door.

"Really?" Sakura asked, with implied sarcasm. "An arcade?"

"Why not? It's warm, and we've still got plenty of time 'til midnight." Naruto replied as they made their way down the aisle of lights. Shrugging their shoulders, Sakura and Chihiro figured they might as well, to pass the time. Twenty minutes later, it was almost time and Naruto was mildly frustrated with having lost every game. Chihiro was playing with a claw machine, with Sasuke, off to the side, still brooding, but with his gaze still fixed on Chihiro.

"Whatcha trying to get?" Sakura asked, coming up behind her.

"The turtle…it's cute…" Chihiro replied, distracted. Inside was a green plush sea turtle, roughly the size of a small pillow. The claw dropped it, once again, as it shuddered back to the top.

"Damn." Chihiro said, to herself.

"How long have you been trying?" Sakura asked.

"How long have we been here?" She replied, making Sakura laugh.

"Come on, let's go." Naruto said, leading them out of the arcade.

Just as the door closed behind them, outside, a hand grabbed Chihiro, hard, by the shoulder and pulled her off to the side, shocking the group. Kakashi…

"Where the hell have you been?!" He demanded, from Chihiro, angrily. "I've been looking for you, everywhere! You know you're not supposed to be out, tonight."

"Why not?" Naruto interrupted. "It's New Year's Eve."

"It doesn't concern you three. Oh…" Kakashi turned around for merely a second to apologize to a couple passing by, that he'd bumped into. When he turned back around, the 4 were gone. "Fuck!"

Pushing through the crowd, the 4 finally made it to an opening. And though Chihiro gave a slight giggle, the others looked confused.

"What was that about?" Naruto asked.

"I have no idea." Chihiro lied. "But, come on. Let's just have fun, tonight." Just then, the group of children running around emerged, and began pelting them with snowballs, when one accidently hit a nearby merchant. The man chased them off, leaving the group covered in snow.

Brushing themselves off, Sasuke reached over to Chihiro. "You've still got some in your hair…" He said as he helped brush the flakes out of her hair. _Her long, soft hair… _His fingers stalled, lost in thought. But as soon as his eyes locked with her, he was snapped back, his hand retreated, and they quickly turned away from each other. Naruto and Sakura, noticing, shared a subtle smile at their handiwork.

Clapping to break the awkward silence, Naruto interjected, "Ok, I think it's about time…" right as the crowd began counting down.

10! ...9! ...8! Sakura, Naruto, and Chihiro began counting down with them. 7! …6! …5! …4! People began to ready their confetti poppers. 3! …2! …1!

But with the stroke of midnight, Chihiro's world went dark. Sasuke looked over just in time to see her collapse to the ground. The last she saw was Sasuke reaching towards her as he yelled, "Chihiro!"


End file.
